The Echoing Caves

• This article is about the level from Rayman 2 and its remakes. For the level in Rayman Activity Centre, see The Echoing Caves (Rayman Activity Centre).

The Echoing Caves (Echoing Caves in the PlayStation version) is a level in Rayman 2. In most versions, this level allows the player to revisit a part of the Fairy Glade which was unreachable before (and where a Glob Crystal can be found in the Dreamcast version), via a secret passage, and introduces kegs which can be used as rocket to get across pools of acid.

Original version

The Echoing Caves
← The Sanctuary of Stone and Fire	The Precipice →
{{{connected to}}}

The Spiral Door in the Hall of Doors which takes Rayman to the Echoing Caves.

Phase 1

Before the level starts, a cutscene set in a rainy part of the forest starts, in which a red Henchman 800 surveys the area, and walks into an automatic door which is then locked. Rayman then arrives in the area, jumping off a high ledge, and engages into battle with said Henchman. When it is defeated, Rayman then has to find four switches to unlock the door and go through. Any switch can be turned on in no particular order.

The first switch is situated in a small wooden stronghold nearby the battle area. Opposite that is a wooden drawbridge that Rayman must jump from in order to reach the ledge on the other side and drop down the hole in the ground into a small clearing. In the centre of that, there is another hole filled with clean water - this is a tunnel which leads to a wooden room in which the second switch is found. Back in the clearing, there is a plum tree - Rayman has to knock a plum down, take it down a corridor, and throw it at the head of a Gorilla Pirate. Then he can jump on that, climb the rope ladders and return to where he started.

Rayman then has to cross a pit using two pillars that stand, and jump down a cliff that leads to a misty pond half surrounded by a wooden building, where a purple Henchman 800 sleeps. The third switch is found there. Opposite that switch, Rayman finds a timed switch that triggers the rise of wooden pillars of varying sizes, which Rayman needs to climb to get to the ledge above and climb a rope ladder, leading him down a passage into an area with a vast chasm.

The only way to cross this safely is to use the floating platforms that rise a certain height, turns itself upside down and comes back down again, while taking care not to be tipped over. At the other side, there is a little pond with a water mill spinning next to a building that Rayman has to go into. Inside there is a timed switch that opens the door before him, leading him out to a wooden ledge at the side of the wooden building where the last switch can be found. Not only are all four switches turned on, Rayman is back to where he started, so now he can go through the door.

Phase 2

Rayman enters from above, and can grab a keg with which he can break a door and access a cage. He is then introduced to the ability to fly a keg, by lighting it using a nearby torch. With this first flying keg he can reach a structure across an acid river. There lies another cage and a second keg to light. With this keg Rayman can reach the level's exit, however he must overcome a Gorilla Pirate and access a switch to open the door. If he is very good at flying the keg, he can also reach a second exit, which leads him back to the Fairy Glade.

Back to the Fairy Glade

Rayman must ride a plum through a river of slime, then climb on cobwebs above the slime, while shooting baby caterpillars, to reach a Green Lum. The next section involves swinging on Purple Lums and jumping between wooden pillars standing over the slime. At the end, Rayman lands on a wooden bridge with a purple Henchman 800 above, hurling explosive kegs at him. Rayman must get a keg to hit a weak part of the bridge, so that it collapses, leaving an opening into the building. Inside, Rayman will battle a purple Henchman 800 and break the last cage, which was inaccessible during his earlier trip through the Fairy Glade. This will also free the last two Yellow Lums from that level. Having completed the task, Rayman will jump into a hole left by missing floorboards to return to the Echoing Caves.

Phase 3

Arriving through a large door, Rayman must once again light a keg and fly through a tunnel above an acid river. At the end, he comes across a small wooden building where a Robo-Pirate awaits him. Once the pirate is beaten and the prisoner freed, Rayman must head back outside the building and hit a timer switch, to open a large door leading to the next tunnel. He then has a time limit to reach a keg, light it, and enter the tunnel before the aforementioned door closes. if he fails, he can try again. At the end of this tunnel lies the cage containing the Teensie which will take Rayman to the Hall of Doors. A warship looms ominously outside the cave, watching, possibly in reference to the warship's appearance in the following level.

Dreamcast version

The Echoing Caves
← The Sanctuary of Stone and Fire	The Precipice →
{{{connected to}}}

The level is mostly identical to the original with some graphical enhancements in the phase 1, where now many Popolopoïs, giant mosquitoes, and strange fish can be seen in the environment. Additionally, the Henchman 800 Rayman must combat in the beginning of phase 1 is of the drilling type, making the battle harder.

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  The Spiral Door in the Isle of Doors which leads to the Echoing Caves.

PlayStation version

Echoing Caves
← The Sanctuary of Stone and Fire		The Precipice →
{{{connected to}}}

One notable change is that the return to the Fairy Glade has been removed, as the cage it originally allowed the player to free has been omitted. Barrel pirates are also fought throughout the first phase.

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  Rayman jumping on floating platforms.

PlayStation 2 version

The Echoing Caves
← The Pirate Mines	Beneath the Lava Sanctuary →
Rainbow Creek

Many changes have been applied to this level as far as level design is concerned. Phase 2 and 3 are gone completely, and phase 1 now occurs as phase 2. It has also been significantly altered, and its difficulty increased. The stronghold in which the first switch is located is larger and guarded by a yellow Henchman 800. The hole leading to the second switch is now located inside a building, and guarded by two yellow Henchmen 800. Three more Henchmen, a purple and two green, appear near the plum after the second switch has been lit, with two more - a yellow and a red guarding the ledge above the rope ladders and the Gorilla Pirate. The misty pond area has been completely removed, and the third switch is now located in a large multi-storey building with several Henchmen 800 to battle. From this area, an elevator leads Rayman to the chasm with floating platforms and the fourth switch, which is guarded by a Red Henchman 800.

Phase 1, in this game, is now phase 2 of the original Precipice, requiring Rayman to climb a sinking tower. Phase 3 is now the phase 2 of the Top of the World, a level omitted from this version. The end of the level now features a Ninja Henchmen battle as the player must destroy one of two generators to reach the Lava Sanctuary. The original phase 2 and 3 are now found in the Precipice.

The passage that connects to the Fairy Glade here has been removed: Instead, the same area can be accessed by doing a Rain Dance on a plant in the second phase of the Glade.

Game Boy Color version

Echoing Caves
← Sanctuary of Stone & Fire	The Precipice →

In Rayman 2 Forever, the Echoing Caves directly follow the Sanctuary of Stone and Fire, and this is where the third mask of Polokus is located. It resembles the original level much more than the rest of the game. The music is an edited version of the Walk of Life and the Walk of Power.

Part 1

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Part 2

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Part 3

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Bonus level

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Screenshots

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  A watermill can also be found in the Game Boy Color version.

Trivia

• In Rayman Activity Centre, there is an activity titled the Echoing Caves. It does however, seem to have little connection to the Rayman 2 level and the fact that they share names appears to be a coincidence.
• At the very end of the level, a warship is seen, possibly in reference to the Precipice level that follows, where the warship features heavily. Curiously, in Rayman Revolution this area is part of the Precipice. The warship does not appear here, most likely due to this.
• The opening cutscene at the start of phase 1 (phase 2 in Rayman Revolution) shows a Red Henchman 800 enter the caves through the door with four switches. However, no red Henchman 800 is shown inside the caves in any version of the game, despite all versions featuring one at the start of phase 1.

External links

• The Echoing Caves playthrough at YouTube (PC version) (Part 1/2)
• The Echoing Caves playthrough at YouTube (PC version) (Part 2/2)
• The Echoing Caves playthrough at YouTube (Sega Dreamcast version) (Part 1/2)
• The Echoing Caves playthrough at YouTube (Sega Dreamcast version) (Part 2/2)
• The Echoing Caves playthrough at YouTube (Sony PlayStation version)
• Echoing Caves playthrough at YouTube (Sony PlayStation 2 version) (Part 1/3)
• Echoing Caves playthrough at YouTube (Sony PlayStation 2 version) (Part 2/3)
• Echoing Caves playthrough at YouTube (Sony PlayStation 2 version) (Part 3/3)
• Echoing Caves playthrough at YouTube (Game Boy Color version) (Part 1/2)
• Echoing Caves playthrough at YouTube (Game Boy Color version) (Part 2/2)